Amari Cooper: In six games for the Raiders this year, he had just 280 yards and one score. In his six games in Dallas, he has 642 yards and six touchdowns.

As a reminder, Dallas has won five straight in large part to Cooper’s help in the passing game. So far, this deal has been great for Dallas and that bottom half of the 1st round pick the Raiders got isn’t looking so hot. Same goes for that Bears pick.

Jon Gruden being back and taking things back to the stone age reminds me of when it was fun to hate on the Raiders because they were owned and run by the Crypt Keeper. Now we have Chuckie and he’s almost as easy a punching bag as Al was.

Poor Reggie McKenzie. All he did was take one of the worst modern rosters, turn it into a playoff team, have his role unofficially replaced with a head coach who gutted his roster and then be the scapegoat for a poor season. Bill Barnwell posted this as a reminder:

(Also, we all should've seen Hue Jackson's ineptitude coming as we all forgot about the Carson Palmer trade.)

George Kittle: 210 yards in the 1st half. Wow! One target, 0 yards in second half. 210 yards all game. Record for yards in a game for a TE is 215. Ouch.

Saquon Barkley is basically having himself Adrian Peterson’s rookie season rushing plus Reggie Bush’s rookie season in the passing game. So, kinda good. It continues to make me think that despite their desperate need for a QB of the future, the Giants were right to not let Barkley pass them by. But then I’m reminded that Nick Chubb was taken early in the 2nd round and he’s managing 4.5 yards after contact while being given less than a yard of running room before contact. That means he’s being hit immediately but still ripping off decent runs due in large part to how powerful he is. I haven’t seen someone consistently push a pile like this since Jamal Lewis.

Speaking of Cleveland, after seeing Baker Mayfield pull off some magic on Sunday I'm becoming a believer. Mayfield lacks some things, but his ability to fell and escape pressure while keeping his eyes downfield is instinctual and a good fit for the modern NFL. He still makes entirely too many throws he shouldn't have but he nailed a few this game and that was the difference. Another differing factor were his play fakes, with this one being my favorite.

Since Week 9, the Browns lead the NFL in yards per play offensively (6.9 yards) and have converted 14-of-14 red zone opportunities for touchdowns.

Mitch Trubisky continues to be an absolute work in progress when a defense is able to force him into bad Mitch. Against the Rams he threw 30 times for less than 100 yards. Once again, rushing would’ve been more effective than passing (spoiler: it was). That’s not 2018 football, Bears! Get with the program!

With as bad as Trubisky played, Goff was worse statistically, tossing four INTs (technically three, one doesn’t really count as it was end of half throw) while under constant pressure from the Bears’ D, literally. With a run game going nowhere and Goff’s security blanket in Cooper Kupp on IR, the Rams looked like a 9-7 or 8-8 team, at best. Chalk this one up to OL issues.

The Lions gave everyone the blueprint on how to mess with the Rams OL and screw up their screen game (sorry Gurley owners), but the Bears had the talent to turn it into a rout. It’s on the Rams to adjust now that defenses know how to disrupt them.

Chiefs scraped by at home over a mediocre Ravens team which fills me with dread for their playoff chances. NFC really feels like it will be whichever team gets the #1 seed and can play at home though the way the Cowboys are playing with their defense they could spell 2nd round problems for either the Rams or the Saints. I don’t think the Bears have enough on the offensive side to do much to either those teams on the road so they might be a one and done and could even potentially fall in the first round to Seattle if they get unlucky and pull that matchup. Bears have a great defense but the way the refs favor offensive football I don’t see that holding up in the playoffs.

Eagles will go into next season really having to make a tough decision to give Wentz $30M a year which after this year isn’t exactly looking like a Drew Brees slam dunk and might be more like a Kirk Cousins question mark.

Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarterDelivering Truth while the 10% deliver lies.

It's completely in Philadelphia's character to be victorious one year only to keep screwing up the next. Here's to hoping next year they stand a better chance, because that "underdog" narrative certainly isn't going to work this year.

Chiefs scraped by at home over a mediocre Ravens team which fills me with dread for their playoff chances.

What in the world made you think the Ravens are mediocre? Their defense is probably the toughest one the Chiefs have faced all year (outside the Rams, but that game was cuckoo). Coupled with losing Hunt, I'd say the results were spectacular.

Thursdays game against the Chargers is the real test as the Chargers are hot on both sides of the ball right now.

NSMike wrote:

How did I live before digital distribution of old, cheap games?

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

You did live before digital distribution of old, cheap games. Now you just play games.

Chiefs scraped by at home over a mediocre Ravens team which fills me with dread for their playoff chances.

Sigh...

How do you feel about the Rams after 6 points against the bears? The Saints after 10 points against the Cowboys? Or the Saints struggling beat the same Ravens 24-23? How about after three main AFC contenders, New England, Pittsburgh, and Houston all lost this week?

I saw Mahomes get flustered and pressured against probably the toughest defense he has seen all year. And he came out just fine. That game does more to help the Chiefs in the playoffs than hurt.

And to be fair, they were without Sammy Watkins, and that does take a toll on their offense. Tyreek Hill was in and out all day and hobbled with an injured ankle and wrist. And they are still adjusting to not having Hunt anymore, and Spencer Ware went out injured, too.

They gutted out a tough win. If they can gut out a win over San Diego, which comes way too soon after all those injuries Sunday (and Mahomes was hit more Sunday than he has been all year), then they will finally have a chance to rest some guys over the last two games, get a week off, and then be pretty damn ready for the playoffs.

I'm a homer, but I'm not dreading the playoffs, at all.

Henry Standing Bear: It is a beautiful day at the Red Pony and continual soiree.

Castiel: I suggest we imbibe copious amounts of alcohol and just wait for the inevitable blast wave.

Chiefs scraped by at home over a mediocre Ravens team which fills me with dread for their playoff chances.

Sigh...

How do you feel about the Rams after 6 points against the bears? The Saints after 10 points against the Cowboys? Or the Saints struggling beat the same Ravens 24-23? How about after three main AFC contenders, New England, Pittsburgh, and Houston all lost this week?

I saw Mahomes get flustered and pressured against probably the toughest defense he has seen all year. And he came out just fine. That game does more to help the Chiefs in the playoffs than hurt.

And to be fair, they were without Sammy Watkins, and that does take a toll on their offense. Tyreek Hill was in and out all day and hobbled with an injured ankle and wrist. And they are still adjusting to not having Hunt anymore, and Spencer Ware went out injured, too.

They gutted out a tough win. If they can gut out a win over San Diego, which comes way too soon after all those injuries Sunday (and Mahomes was hit more Sunday than he has been all year), then they will finally have a chance to rest some guys over the last two games, get a week off, and then be pretty damn ready for the playoffs.

I'm a homer, but I'm not dreading the playoffs, at all.

In fairness those other teams were road losses whereas the Chiefs were at home. And listing injuries are exactly why I worry about their playoff chances.

Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarterDelivering Truth while the 10% deliver lies.

Frank Gore is averaging 4.7 ypc this season. He's sitting at 708 rushing yards also with a very slim chance of hitting 1,000 yards. It'll take an injury and gameplans to favor Gore to reach it, but that's nuts. The guy is a machine.

NSMike wrote:

How did I live before digital distribution of old, cheap games?

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

You did live before digital distribution of old, cheap games. Now you just play games.

I think Flacco is right there alongside Bortles as being in serious consideration for "June 1st" cuts this offseason. Lamar Jackson giving them a starting QB on a rookie contract would allow Baltimore to start eating Flacco's deal in dead cap space. Likewise, I expect the Jaguars will use their draft pick on a QB and split Bortles' dead money over the next two years.

Admittedly, the Ravens with Lamar Jackson at the helm are a completely different team than the one with Joe Flacco at the helm as they completely changed the game script.

The Ravens tried the Flacco Long Ball Way this season and it worked for a while until people began sitting on John Brown and then we were back to dink and dunk 2017. That's when they lost games.

Flacco gets hurt, Jackson is brought in an RPOs are the name of the game.

This isn't like when Brady was replaced by Cassel throwing to Randy Moss, which was effectively the same offense Brady was running. They've completely changed their gameplan. Hell, they changed who they're using as RBs based on Jackson being the QB now.

Flacco had his shot, for a long time, and maybe if the Ravens had a deeper, more talented WR corps they would go back to Flacco, but there's no point because they don't. The game scripts of run, run, pass, run fits perfectly for the Ravens who have a damn good defense.

There are absolute downsides to having Jackson in there as the ball is being turned over at a higher rate, but the success rate on offense has also increased.

It's already bad enough that the Eli to Jacksonville rumors are going to swirl like mad this offseason. I don't need Flacco in there too.

There's an alternate universe out there where the Jags signed Bridgewater this offseason and he's been their starting QB since midseason and got the team back in the playoff race, and I'd like to go there now.

Honestly, Mahomes really is different. Games like yesterday tell that story. Just head a PFF guy on a podcast say that Nahomes faces pressure on more than 50% of his drop backs. Andcdespite not having Hunt for easy check downs, Watkins to keep the safeties honest, and Tyreek Hill in and out of the game and hobbled, he was still great and won a down and dirty game.

He’s not just playing on an elite level physically, but he is damn near Peyton Manning our there pre-snap and making reads.

Yep, he might be a flash in the pan. But there is plenty of reason to see him as the real deal. He’ll beat any young QB comp you have.

Henry Standing Bear: It is a beautiful day at the Red Pony and continual soiree.

Castiel: I suggest we imbibe copious amounts of alcohol and just wait for the inevitable blast wave.

Mahomes is definitely the second coming of Favre, but even better because he's not as reckless. Let's not anoint him the greatest QB ever considering his circumstances are more than favorable, but his physical gifts are unparalleled. He's got a good mind on him, but it's the fact his ability to fling the ball anywhere from any angle plus his mind is why he's so damn good. He's absolutely the real deal. Fo sho.

While nowhere near as physically gifted, Deshaun Watson is just as much a gamer as Mahomes.

There's plenty of other talented QBs out there right now, it's a great time for that. None have established legacies to match the outgoing crop of QBs, but they will in a few seasons after they start beating the old guys in the playoffs.

NSMike wrote:

How did I live before digital distribution of old, cheap games?

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

You did live before digital distribution of old, cheap games. Now you just play games.

The Draw Play points out today that the Panthers have never had back-to-back winning seasons but somehow won three straight division titles.

They've also lost 12 straight (losing to the Browns counts the same as a six-game losing streak) and are still in the hunt for a WC spot because the Vikings and DC are even hotter garbage than Carolina right now.

Speaking of Carolina, Panthers-Saints will be your Monday night game this week.

Cousins went 1-of-7 (14%) when a defender got within 2 yards of him Monday according to NFL Next Gen Stats, his worst mark of the season. Cousins has attempted 161 passes this year with a defender within 2 yards of him, most in the NFL.

This was the version of Cousins I was afraid we'd see. I'm not sure what changed other than teams pretty much directing all coverage to Thielen, but it's been quite a precipitous drop from the beginning of the year.

NSMike wrote:

How did I live before digital distribution of old, cheap games?

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

You did live before digital distribution of old, cheap games. Now you just play games.